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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does Miss Coulson ask when Mrs. Widdup's vacation begins?
(a) She is wondering if Mr. Coulson will try to go away with Mrs. Widdup.
(b) She is eager to get Mrs. Widdup away from Mr. Coulson.
(c) She is hoping to get away from the house for a while, herself.
(d) She will need to make arrangements for Mr. Coulson's care.

2. Where does Miss Coulson meet the iceman on the next morning?
(a) In the park across from the house.
(b) In the basement.
(c) In the kitchen.
(d) In the vacant lot next door.

3. What illness does Mr. Coulson suffer from?
(a) Lupus.
(b) Gout.
(c) Anemia.
(d) Rheumatism.

4. When Mr. Coulson is irritated, he complains that no one in the house does what?
(a) Responds when he rings for a servant.
(b) Listens to him when he speaks.
(c) Attempts to entertain him.
(d) Cares if he lives or dies.

5. How many years apart are Miss Coulson's and Mrs. Widdup's ages?
(a) 10.
(b) They are the same age.
(c) 15.
(d) 5.

Short Answer Questions

1. Whom does the narrator refer to as "the venerable and scarcely suspecting victim of May" (334)?

2. On the final morning of the story, what causes Mr. Coulson's mood to change?

3. What does the narrator warn the reader to "never trust" (333)?

4. How does Miss Coulson spend the afternoon after her conversation with her father about the cold?

5. What is the purpose of the allusion to the "virgin of Cologne" (334)?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the thematic significance of the olfactory image of the city in springtime?

2. How does O. Henry characterize the month of May?

3. What happens overnight that changes Mrs. Widdup and Mr. Coulson's fate?

4. Explain the titular allusion and the allusion to "the poet" in the first sentence of the story.

5. What is Miss Coulson's plan to head off her father's budding romance?

6. In the passage where Miss Coulson stares out the window, the reader is told "The chirp of the sparrows gave her a pain. She mocked at May" (334). To what earlier passage is this a reference, and what is the significance of the reference?

7. When rhetorical purposes are served by the passage where the narrator says that the scent of flowers was carried in through the window and "fought" with the scent of Mr. Coulson's gout medicine?

8. What rhetorical purposes does O. Henry accomplish with his introduction of Mr. Coulson through a list of things that he "has," like gout, money, and a daughter?

9. When Miss Coulson says that the supposedly chilly weather is "An instance...of winter lingering in the lap of spring," what double meaning does she have in mind? (335).

10. What is the significance of the sound of the overturned chair after Mr. Coulson confesses his feelings to Mrs. Widdup?

(see the answer keys)

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